Tags

For years, Finger Lakes wineries have relied on air cannons and large "scare-eye" balloons that mimic predatory birds' glare to keep European starlings and other feathered foes of fruit-laden grapevines from picking vineyards clean.

But a government-funded research project involving Cornell and other universities recently helped introduce local winery owners to a potentially new weapon against crop-devouring birds: the inflatable "tube men" often seen at used car dealerships.

Provided through a multi-state U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, several tube men – also called "airdancers" – loomed above Finger Lakes vineyard rows before last fall's harvest, flailing in a haphazard manner that appears to make hungry birds skittish.

Lakewood Vineyards in Watkins Glen, Schuyler County, had a "Wacky Wayne" (the study's name for the tube men) guard some of its grapes last fall, but the Seneca Lake winery has not decided whether it will buy its own airdancer. A 20-foot version costs roughly $175.

"If so, it would be put to use as the grapes start to ripen and the birds are most likely to eat the grapes," Lakewood co-owner Liz Stamp says.